The AR-15 firearm has been one of the most popular firearms in the United States, with both rifle and pistol configurations and versions for military use and civil use. The original AR-15 was designed and built by ArmaLite as an assault rifle for the United States armed forces. ArmaLite later sold its design to Colt, which made a few modifications to the design. The redesigned rifle was known as the M16 and became the United States military's standard service rifle during and since the Viet Nam War. The term AR-15 has been the Colt trademark for the civilian, semi-automatic versions of that design. Other manufacturers have made firearms having similar designs, but under different trademarks. Such similar designs include designs with different lengths and configurations of stocks and different barrel lengths. Further, due to the firearm's modular design, the upper portion of the receiver can be quickly and easily replaced with another upper receiver designed to accommodate different calibers of cartridges as well as associated barrels adapted to function with those different calibers of cartridges.
States within the United States have recently enacted laws that restrict the characteristics of so-called “assault weapons”, including semi-automatic firearms such as the AR-15 firearm. Notably, the state of California has banned the civilian possession of semi-automatic, centerfire rifles that have the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and possess a “pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon”, which is defined as meaning “a grip that allows for a pistol style grasp in which the web of the trigger hand (between the thumb and index finger) can be placed below the top exposed portion of the trigger while firing.”
The AR-15 style firearms heretofore manufactured are typically provided with pistol type grip that places the web of the trigger hand in a position that extends below the upper, exposed portion of the trigger.
The present invention was designed to provide a spur that may be substituted for or may replace a typical pistol grip employed with AR-15 style firearms, but which may be advantageously employed in other firearms as well. The spur is believed to avoid the aforementioned legal characteristic that results in such firearms being banned from civilian possession.